Foldable chair with an inflatable back and seat assembly

Abstract

A foldable chair includes four legs braced by a stretcher assembly. A flexible sheet member is disposed on and is stretched by top portions of the legs when the stretcher assembly is spreaded. An inflatable back and seat assembly of a single piece construction, is retained removably on the sheet member by means of securing members. When the back and seat assembly is inflated, the expanding force generated as a result of inflation will jerk the top portions of the legs to move apart from one another so as to spread the stretcher assembly.

I claim:  
     
       1. A foldable chair comprising: 
       a pair of front right and left legs spaced apart from each other in a longitudinal direction, each of said front right and left legs having a bottom portion, and a top portion extending telescopically from said bottom portion in an upright direction;  
       a pair of rear right and left legs spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction, each of said rear right and left legs having a bottom portion, and a top portion extending telescopically from said bottom portion in the upright direction, said rear right and left legs being respectively spaced apart from said front right and left legs in a transverse direction relative to the longitudinal direction;  
       a pair of back upright members respectively extending from said top portions of said rear right and left legs in the upright direction;  
       a stretcher assembly including four stretcher units which are disposed to respectively brace in sequence, four sets of two adjacent ones of said front and rear right and left legs in either one of the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction, and stretchable between a folded position, where said top portions are displaced in the upright direction to be away from said bottom portions respectively, and where said two adjacent ones of said front and rear right and left legs are disposed to be closer to each other, and a spreaded position, where said top portions are displaced to be closer to said bottom portions respectively, and where said two adjacent ones of said front and rear right and left legs are disposed to be further apart from each other;  
       a flexible sheet member including a seat portion with four mounting holes to be sleeved respectively on and stretched by said top portions of said front and rear right and left legs when said stretcher assembly is in the spreaded position, and a backrest portion having two engaging side portions which are disposed opposite to each other in the longitudinal direction and which engage and which are stretched by said back upright members when said stretcher assembly is in the spreaded position;  
       an inflatable back and seat assembly of a single piece construction, including a seat body which has a bottom wall with four corner positioning areas respectively corresponding to said mounting holes, and a back body which once inflated, is moved backward to abut against said backrest portion and said back upright members when a user leans on said back body;  
       an air inflating member disposed to inflate said back and seat assembly; and  
       at least two securing members, each disposed between said top portion of a respective one of said front and rear right and left legs and a corresponding one of said corner positioning areas to secure releasably said corner positioning area to said top portion and to permit said corner positioning area to be released from said top portion in the upright direction, said back and seat assembly being configured such that when said back and seat assembly is inflated, the expanding force generated as a result of inflation of said back and seat assembly will jerk said top portions of said legs to move apart from one another so as to place said stretcher assembly in the spreaded position, thereby bracing said two adjacent ones of said legs.  
     
     
       2. The foldable chair of  claim 1 , wherein each of said securing members includes a socket secured on a respective one of said corner positioning areas, and a plug projecting from said top portion of the respective one of said front right and left legs in the upright direction and of such a dimension as to be inserted into and retained in said socket in the upright direction. 
     
     
       3. The foldable chair of  claim 2 , wherein said socket is made of a flexible material. 
     
     
       4. The foldable chair of  claim 2 , wherein said seat portion of said sheet member has four annular members which are secured thereon and which respectively surround said mounting holes so as to stiffen said seat portion. 
     
     
       5. The foldable chair of  claim 2 , further comprising a pair of spacer members, each of which has a first end engaging said top portion of a respective one of said rear right and left legs, and a second end extending rearwardly from said first end and engaging a corresponding one of said back upright members so as to facilitate registering of the respective one of said corner positioning areas with the corresponding one of said mounting holes in the upright direction.